Evolution of fission-gas-bubble-size distribution in recrystallized U–10Mo nuclear fuel

An analytical model for the nucleation and growth of intra and intergranular fission-gas bubbles, used to characterize fission-gas bubble development in U–Mo alloy fuel with burnup limited to less than 10 at.% U in order to capture the fuel swelling stage prior to irradiation-induced recrystallization, is extended to recrystallized fuel at a burnup of ∼16 at.% U. During recrystallization the grain size is transformed from micron to sub-micron sizes. The intergranular bubble-size distribution post-recrystallization is found to evolve with similar kinetics and morphology to that pre-recrystallization with any differences primarily due to gas content and initial and/or boundary conditions (e.g., fuel microstructure). The predictions of the theory are compared with measured bubble-size distributions in pre and post recrystallized U–10Mo alloy fuel.